Of Trees and Mistletoe
by takaondo
Summary: IchiRuki Christmas oriented Oneshot, a present for my friends at the BA forum. Contains Isshincrack, humor, and fluff at the end. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!


Disclaimer: Don't Own Bleach!

This is dedicated to all my friends at the BA forum, and it was concocted up pretty forcefully. I hope it's still enjoyable nonetheless, with the major constraint (in both time and inspiration) I had writing it. A little bit more under-developed fluff then I would have wanted, but it is special after all. Anyways, enjoy! (may contain grammar/spelling errors)

- Few edits

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**_Of Trees and Mistletoe_**

* * *

Ichigo opened his eyes. 

He slowly turned over to his side, his eyes narrowing slightly as he shifted his weight in his bed. Today was Christmas Eve, and a feeling in the pit of his stomach told him it was not going to end up being 'fun'.

_**Rumble, rumble.**_

"What the hell?" He said annoyingly as he looked up.

He sat up as he heard sounds coming from the rooftops. Getting up to open the window, a large shadow appeared. A yell was heard as Isshin, tangled up in Christmas lights, fell off the roof top and bungeed next to his window.

"GOOD MORNING! ICHIGO!" Isshin yelled. "IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!"

With a twitching eye-brow and the slamming of the window, he covered himself back in his covers. Isshin continued to tap the glass, the smile not wiping off his face. Ichigo however, tried harder and harder to ignore him.

"Come my son! Help your father put up these lights-"

"No!"

With that one flat retort, the cord snapped under Isshin's weight. His eyes were wide as he fell straight to the ground. With a yell and a sound of snow parting, a splash of snow reached the windows. Ichigo only grumbled. He did not want to get up.

"Ichigo?" A voice said as it tapped on the door.

His door slowly opened.

"Come on Ichigo, you need to get up." Rukia said, her eyes bright. "Or else breakfast will get cold."

"I'm not hungry." Ichigo said childishly.

"I made breakfast today though!" Rukia yelled indignantly.

"That's more of a reason to stay in bed then." Ichigo replied.

A nerve pulsed dangerously on Rukia's forehead.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" Ichigo yelled as he was dragged downstairs by the ear.

As he sat down at the table, he stared at the food before him. Slowly picking it apart, he looked around him. The house had seemingly changed overnight. His family was in the living room, doing more decorations. Rukia was helping out in her own way, and was cleaning the dishes.

"Your dad said we should go get a Christmas tree while they decorate at home." Rukia said rather cheerfully as she watched them.

Ichigo sighed audibly.

"Why don't you go get it yourself?" Ichigo said as he turned to look up at her. She turned to him with a frown, wiping her hands with a cloth.

"You know, this is my first Christmas after all. I really want to enjoy it and all the festivities. I still need you around." Rukia said as she sat down at the table. She placed her head on her hands as she stared at him with a smile. "You're always so grumpy, cheer up."

"Shut up." He replied with a slight frown. She smirked smugly at him in response.

Ichigo smirked back as he went back to finishing his breakfast.

Meanwhile in the living room, Yuzu and Isshin both gasped as they opened a box. It was going to be their secret weapon for later. Karin however, looked mildly embarrassed as she put a hand to her forehead.

They both ran over to a drawing board.

"So… Rukia-chan moves at a speed of 3 feet per second…" Isshin mumbled as he drew onto the board.

"No, she'll probably stop at each interval so we should extend it another two second…" Yuzu said, making another marking.

"Ichigo will move at about 5 feet per second if he's miffed…" Isshin said as he made another mark.

"So the connection should be made here!" Yuzu said as she marked an X. Both of them giggled as Karin smacked her forehead again.

"This will never work…" She said with a long sigh.

Ichigo stepped outside and locked the door. As he looked around, a scowl relit his face.

Snow…

"Ichigo! Hurry up!"

It was the fluffy white stuff that soaked his shoes and made him cold straight to his bones. It was the thing that made him hold his covers over himself a little tighter during winter nights. It was the thing _she_ really liked.

"HURRY UP IDIOT!"

That was already more then enough of a reason to hate it.

"I'm coming! Jeez!" Ichigo yelled as he wrapped his scarf around his neck. He walked, scowling as he stared up at the sky. The snow didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon either.

"Look at all the snow!" Rukia said happily as she twirled around with her arms out. Ichigo's eye twitched lightly as he stared at her. What was so nice about this stuff anyways? All it does is make you feel cold and slip-

"Ichigo, watch out it's kind of-"

He slipped over a patch ice and fell over.

"Slippery…"

Laughing brightly, she held out her hand to help him up. Scowling, Ichigo took her hand and lifted himself up, brushing himself off. As they continued to walk, Rukia continued to laugh mirthfully at random intervals.

Ichigo's nerves finally broke.

"IT'S NOT THAT FUNNY!"

Finally at the store, Rukia gasped as she looked at all the trees. Ichigo walked up to a random one and decide it would fit fine. It had to be something small and light enough to carry, but big enough to constitute as a tree.

"We'll take this one-"

"I don't like it." Rukia said with a hand under her chin.

"What's wrong with it?" Ichigo asked, peering through the branches.

"It's not green enough." She added.

"What makes you such an expert?" Ichigo asked as he placed it back with a scowl.

"I did my research beforehand like always! Come on let's keep looking!" Rukia yelled, tugging his arm. Ichigo sighed as he allowed himself to be led all around the store. As he picked out ones he liked, Rukia critiqued them.

"Too big."

"Too small."

"Too green."

Ichigo knew Rukia was going to end up being picky. Even if she was shinigami, she was still a girl after all. They never made life easy, especially when it came to shopping for things!

_This was going to last a while…_

"We're home!"

Finally stepping back inside the house, Ichigo struggled to bring in the tree (wrapped in a protective plastic) that they had just brought. It was small and light, but Rukia had 'convinced' him to be careful. Meaningless to say, his head was still hurting from the smack he had received earlier for not being 'careful'.

After thoroughly cleaning it and placing it in the living room, they were going to decorate it while the rest of family finished up other things. Unpacking the ornaments, Rukia held them up with curiosity as Ichigo placed one on a branch.

"Wait! Not there!" She yelled with her eyes wide.

Ichigo sighed heavily. She could never give him a break, could she?

"Come on Rukia, it's been nearly an hour… just put the star on top." Ichigo complained.

"Uh…" Rukia mumbled as she looked towards him. Ichigo smirked. The tree was short, but something else was shorter.

"You can't reach it… can you?"

"…" She glared at him.

"Want me to get a step- OW!" Ichigo was hit by one of the fiberglass ornaments.

When they were finally done, Rukia stood there with a smug expression while Ichigo remained scowling. Fiberglass ornaments _really_ hurt.

"Ichi-nii! Can you come help out in the kitchen?" Yuzu's voice rang.

As he stepped into the kitchen, leaving Rukia to marvel at the tree, he glanced at Yuzu as she pointed up at wreath. Staring up at it, he noticed it was rather wobbly.

"You want me to tack that up?" Ichigo said as he pointed up at it. Yuzu nodded as she took out a few more boxes. "Where's the hammer?"

"I think it's downstairs, you want me to-"

"I'll get it." Ichigo said, as he walked back under the doorway. As he left, Yuzu pulled a string, letting the wreath fall down.

"Initiate the plan." Yuzu whispered as Isshin peered from the corner. She pulled up the chair and the hammer and started to get to work.

Rukia was still staring at the tree as she heard ruffling in the kitchen. A noise caught her attention. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the plushie on the floor.

"Chappy!" She yelled as she went over to it. Picking it up, she smiled as she looked over it. "Christmas version! What are you doing on the floor-" Her eyes widened as she looked around.

A very 'UnRukia' like squeal left her mouth as she caught sight of another.

Isshin smirked as he placed them one by one, a trail leading to the kitchen. He ran off as he heard Ichigo grumble, coming up from the basement.

"All I could find was this small one-" He looked down at a small bunny plushie. His eyebrow twitched. "What's this doing here?"

A small force of wind took him by surprise as Rukia quickly grabbed it.

"MINE!" Rukia said. Her face held some curiosity as she looked at the note on the back. "Ichigo… it says 'Look up…'"

Slowly, Ichigo looked up.

The small hammer fell out of his hands as he looked up. The most horrifying thing hung above them. The most disgusting, diabolical thing ever…

…Mistletoe…

"Oh my, _seems_ like you two have stepped under the mistletoe!" Isshin yelled as he popped out of no where with Yuzu. "It's tradition that you two kiss!"

"WHAT!?" Rukia yelled as the plushies fell out of her arms.

"I can't believe it worked." Karin said with a grin as she popped out from under the counter. Ichigo looked like he was about to explode. "Are you going to chicken out, Ichi-nii?"

"NO WAY!" Ichigo yelled. "Besides, I don't think Rukia would want to-"

He stopped as he felt a small tug on his arm. He slowly turned towards her. She had the cutest expression on her face as she looked away, her face slightly red but determined.

"Its tradition for Christmas… isn't it?" Rukia said as she turned back to him. She looked up at him with slight embarrassment. Ichigo felt like his brain was melting that moment. "So… kiss me…"

He was going to piss right in his pants, right then, right there.

"Fine…" He said grudgingly as he held her by the shoulders. He slowly bent down, hesitating every step of the way. As the Kurosaki family looked on with great curiosity, Rukia mouth moved slowly.

"Hurry up idiot…" She said softly, her eyes dropping.

"Shut up…" Ichigo replied, doing the same.

Their lips first brushed against one another, before pressing in softly. Ichigo could feel Rukia going slightly limp as the kiss deepened. It was the most amazing thing he ever felt, and probably the most amazing thing she had felt.

And as such, amazing things never lasted long.

_**Snap!**_

The sound of a camera being clicked off was heard. Their eyes both widened as they separated. As Ichigo quickly detached himself, Rukia stood there blushing as he gave chase to his father, whom was clutching a camera victoriously.

"FIRST YOU SET US UP, THEN YOU TAKE A PICTURE!?" Ichigo yelled as he gave chase.

"YOU ENJOYED IT MY SON! DON'T LIE!!!" Isshin yelled as he jumped over the couch.

Rukia held a hand up to her heart as she stared at Ichigo, who was blushing bright red from embarrassment. She slowly closed them as her own face was slightly lit up from their recent contact. A smile graced her lips.

"Merry Christmas… fool…"

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Merry Christmas! 


End file.
